Associations & Practice | |
Associations & Practice | |
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Thursday, December 12, 2019 / 11:49 AM
/ Nifemi Taiyese for Proshare WebTV / Header Image Credit: WebTV
The Cadbury Nigeria Alumni Association, CNAA, recently
hosted its 2019 Dr. Christopher Kolade Lecture in Lagos themed; "2020:
Opportunities and Threats in the Nigerian Economy".
Giving the welcome address the CNAA President, Mr.
Lampe Omoyele said the association served as a platform to project integrity,
innovation, excellence and creativity.
Omoyele highlighted the 7 C's of the company's former
Chairman and Managing Director, Dr. Christopher Kolade, which were: confidence,
commitment, consensus, caring nature, character, competence, and being careful.
The CNAA President said establishing the Dr.
Christopher Kolade lecture series was a Cadbury Nigeria alumni contribution to
stimulating intellectual discourse on issues of corporate and national interest
and pursuing excellence at individual, corporate and national levels.
The MD/CEO of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Mrs. Oyeyimika Adeboye, who was represented by Mr. Tope-Phillips Aikhuemelo, Human Resources
Director in his goodwill message, said the lecture was targeted to stimulate
intellectual discourse and equip participants with the competencies they need
to succeed both in their personal and professional lives.
He said the thought behind the lecture was to provide
ideas-leadership, which would complement other initiatives designed to grow the
economy.
According to him, the CNAA was established in 2015 as
a vehicle to drive change in our society.
Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, Chairman Board of Directors,
First Bank of Nigeria Ltd and Member, Board of Directors, Cadbury Nigeria PLC
in her keynote address discussed the theme, "2020:Opportunities and Threats in
the Nigerian Economy". Awosika said the discussion at CNAA was designed to
facilitate the creation of a better society by adding thought-value to the
Nigerian economy.
Awosika said Nigeria had diverse talents and a huge
population estimated at 200m people. According to her, "The population is an
asset depending on what we do with it, the population can also be a risk or
liability depending on what we do not do with it'.
She emphasized the need for a productive economy that
is driven by entrepreneurship that focuses on value addition that would boost
national competitiveness.
Awosika spoke on the real value of Nigeria's
population being the potential to grow economically empowered enterprises
through an institutionalized process of value creation.
Speaking on the opportunities for 2020, First Bank of
Nigeria's Chairman emphasized the need for the diversification of the Nigerian
economy, and the focus on agro-allied industries and tapping into
diaspora remittances like other emerging economies.
To enable diversification, Mrs. Awosika stressed the
need for significant investments in infrastructure, which covers roads,
bridges, rail, power and broadband etc.
For harnessing opportunities and job creation Awosika
believed that the issue of human capital needs addressing. She stressed the
need for deliberate strategies to train and retrain Nigerians with the
requisite skills to be globally competitive.
Giving further insight into competitiveness, Awosika
called for economic restructuring which she believed would unlock certain
opportunities in the country.
She made a strong case for entrepreneurship studies to
be integrated into the Nigerian Education Curricula, giving individuals the
capacity to manage their businesses and create economic .
Mrs. Awosika called for a stable political system, a
robust legal structure and an environment that respects the sanctity of
contracts and commitments.
She stressed that the uneven pace of development
across the geo-political zones in the country was a threat to the
socio-economic development of the nation.
Awosika called for investments in security and
logistics to address the threats to investments and businesses in the
nation.
She said Nigeria required an instrumental education
system with the employment of competent and sound
teachers to drive the sector.
The Chairman of First Bank emphasised the need for a
national mindset that supersedes regional mindsets that could threaten the
entity called Nigeria.
Dr. Christopher Kolade, elder boardroom statesman and
former Chairman/Managing Director of Cadbury Plc, who was the guest of honour
at the occasion lauded the CNAA lecture series and called for resilience,
dedication and commitment from Nigerians to achieve great nationhood.
He said despite the challenging macro-economic
environment, Nigerians should strive to be change agents in their various
spheres of influence.
The event featured a panel discussion moderated by Mr.
Olufemi Awoyemi, Chairman, Proshare Nigeria Limited, Dr. Ayo Teriba, CEO
Economic Associates and Ambassador Ayo Olukanmi, Director General of the
Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture
and Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, Chairman First Bank of Nigeria Ltd.
Watch Video
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